Grace Newton

Leeds ratepayers have reacted to the news that the city council is to introduce changes to bin collections, which will see some shorter routes scrapped and longer rounds added.

The announcement sparked huge debate on our Facebook page - here are some of your comments:-

Faye Rocks - Missed bin figures are down? Really, that does surprise me! I’ve just got fed up of reporting my missed bins because they don’t do anything about it!

Josephine Green - Wouldn’t mind but they don’t collect extra rubbish when they miss it or at holiday times and there’s a limit on things to go in the green bin. If they are going to change it they should get it right, and that goes for houses with two black bins.

Peter Umpleby - If they didn’t pay millions every year for solicitors to fight them being sued for negligence, there may be enough funds for front line services.

Graham Armstrong - Originally the weekly bin collections were made fortnightly as a cost-cutting but also green initiative. Judging by the queues at Pudsey recycling site, the pollution emmitted by a weekly bin wagon collection compared to the pollution created by several hundred cars having to take their own rubbish to the tip every day because their bins are full must be far in excess of what it used to be. Just out of interest, what happened to the money saved by reducing bin collections in the first place? My council tax just kept increasing for fewer services.

Johnny Abraham - LCC however had enough money to pay someone to come to my doorstep just to tell me that I couldn’t have an extra bin, when I had already had the conversation on the phone! LCC needs a private firm to go in and assist them with cost-cutting and improving efficiency ASAP!

Sammy Crossfield - My husband comes home knackered as it is, running around 20 miles all day emptying over 1,500 bins and containers a day. That’s 30 tonnes a day. In all weathers. Snow, rain, heat... now he’s got to do more for the same money.

Laura Lawson - If you’re going to over-stretch the workers then there will be more complaints, rounds will get missed and that will result in fly tipping etc.

Hayley Brattan - I am in Spain and the bins are collected every day. The streets are regularly swept and cleaned too. No one here pays council tax, what exactly are we paying for? The police have a high presence over here and they even attend every school at leaving time to make sure the children get out and across roads safely. Most of the services we pay for are far better here and in Spain it is all for free.

Anca Ioana - The council tax includes bin collection, if they slash part of the bin collection, part of the council tax needs to be slashed...how come nobody protests about this?! They already slashed bin collection by half, it’s no longer weekly black bins and weekly green bins, now they alternate, without the payers being consulted...and they want to cut even more?!

Michelle Green - It’s a good idea. What’s the point in having a round for a short route when it can be tagged onto another. Glad to see the council using its common sense for a change.

Rob Brearey - That’s all well and good so long as you don’t start fining people for overflowing rubbish. And yes, some waste can be got rid of by people themselves but not everyone has a vehicle and a lot of people are not able to for quite genuine reasons.

Phil Hanson - Many people put bins out with little in them, wasting the time of operatives. Maybe putting only half-full ones out would save time (although some bins might hum in hot weather) but glass and paper would be ok?

Michaela Regan - Today I’ve got to go to the skip (again) to get rid of rubbish that the council used to collect. How much does it cost to resolve the increase in fly tipping probably caused by less refuse collecting?

Joanne Pratt - It’s not gonna affect the public - maybe a different delivery day. It’s gonna be harder on the bin men.

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